Affinity groups on cruises

On our February Spirit Caribbean cruise, we had 2 affinity groups- car dealers(reward cruise) and divorce lawyers. The lawyer group had a couple of business meetings(?write off the cruise), and they took over Restaurant 2 for a whole evening. The groups mainly socialized amongst themselves and comprised about 1/3 of the passengers all together. I feel the presence of affinity groups (especially larger ones)on a cruise could definitely negatively impact the cruise for the rest of the passengers. Is there a way to find out from SB if there will be an "affinity group" on my cruise- especially before final payment? I did ask my TA to check before my Spirit cruise, because I have read on CC about that practice- but she did not get any information from SB.

Kathy

They are unlikely to inform you that a group is aboard that might spoil your cruise.

I fully understand your concerns. I have been on cruises where affinity groups have negatively impacted our cruise. They take over public spaces, the ship caters to them at the expense of all others and soon you feel like you are a palm tree. The cruise lines are reluctant to let passengers know in advance of affinity bookings for obvious reasons. Thus they generally will not tell agents. However, I beleive you have every right to know if a large affinity group is going to be on your cruise. I would go back to your agent and demand an answer.

I agree with the above. Have had it happen on SeaDream. I did not feel like a palm tree, I felt like my purpose was to stay out of the way and pay for the fuel.:eek: Really changes the dynamic on board. They should be more forthcoming to us other passengers but we all know why they dont.

I personally feel that other passengers aboard a cruise with groups should band together and not allow themselves to be excluded from any public venues. What are they going to do if the remaining passengers all decide they want to use the Observation Lounge? Get Security to throw you out? Unless they are willing to refund part of the fare for denying spaces that are advertised in their brochures as part of the cruise experience then they should not be allowed to prevent us from using them.

They are unlikely to inform you that a group is aboard that might spoil your cruise.

NOT SO!

ANYONE can call up Seabourn and not just your TA to ask if any groups are onboard.;)

NOT SO!

ANYONE can call up Seabourn and not just your TA to ask if any groups are onboard.;)

This is my understanding as well. We had an affinity group onboard a few years back in the med. Because it was a triple back-to-back, we didn't cancel.. (was a BIG difference in experience that week)

Host Dan

Dan, The same thing happened to us on our Med triple back to back and like you the experience during the week we had the group was very noticeable, and not for the better. We usually take longer cruises so are not as affected as some guests who due to work commitments can not take longer cruises. I have noticed that the groups tend to be on the shorter cruises. On the larger sisters they have a conference room and more passengers but on the smaller ships it must really impact on guests cruise experience.

I agree with wripro that passengers who are affected by not being able to access public spaces should complain to the Hotel Manager as a group.

I'm glad to know that Seabourn will tell you if you ask if a large group has booked the cruise you are thinking of taking. If we do find a shorter cruise we are interested in I would certainly ask the question.

This coming summer (August) the "affinity group" was so large for a popular itenerary in the Med that we were "bumped" from the ship entirely. The new Seabourn just presumed we'd book another time, another itinerary -- no big deal.

Their decision to charter the ship was in January and no "sorry about that" letter from Seabourn/HAL was ever sent to us (it's now April). All communication has been through our TA to work on a refund which is still in progress.

If anyone thinks there is not a sea change afoot with this brand they are simply not very observant.

This coming summer (August) the "affinity group" was so large for a popular itenerary in the Med that we were "bumped" from the ship entirely. The new Seabourn just presumed we'd book another time, another itinerary -- no big deal.

 

Their decision to charter the ship was in January and no "sorry about that" letter from Seabourn/HAL was ever sent to us (it's now April). All communication has been through our TA to work on a refund which is still in progress.

 

If anyone thinks there is not a sea change afoot with this brand they are simply not very observant.

Yes I agree.

The thin end of the wedge has become a little thicker recently.

I too was booked for the Med cruise that was chartered,ofcourse the group is only onboard for one week which was right in the middle of the three weeks that I had booked.

I do not know if Seabourn would make any more money from a group that is on for a week, over the guests that had and would have booked this trip.There were even some new ports to see.

I have agreed compensation and had already booked a future cruise with Seabourn and have made them apply a discount and onboard credit to it.

I have however not booked a cruise with Seabourn to replace the trip that I was bumped off of.

I have instead booked with Crystal now that they are all inclusive and am very much looking forward to the cuisine and service that I am told is very good.

Listen up Seabourn, your loyal guests are trying to tell you something.

I am very sorry that you were bumped from Seabourn, however, if you will check this boards past posting you will see that Seabourn has been doing this for years. I don't believe the HAL management takeover has impacted this issue.

I am very sorry that you were bumped from Seabourn, however, if you will check this boards past posting you will see that Seabourn has been doing this for years. I don't believe the HAL management takeover has impacted this issue.

Is it not unusual for a charter in August at the height of the summer season?

Chairsin, I actually know a little about this as I have gone through the process of chartering the entire ship before -- but availability has always a been on of the smaller ships and for a paid committment more than 8 months in advance. Never to my knowledge have they been willing to charter at the height of the season, on the newest large ship, on a premier (unique) itinerary, late in the game well after a lot of long-term brand loyal customers have signed up.

This is indeed new in my opinion and indicative of a little different set of decision drivers.

It's their business, their choice. My business is my choice and there are a lot of options in the world.

Would someone please tell me of any experiences involving Seabourn bumping their booking in order for Seabourn to accommodate an affinity group?

I am thinking what you would do if you had also booked nonrefundable airfares and/or hotels. Would Seabourn make the bumped passenger good on those expenses?

Yes, it's their business but when I am out of pocket it's mine too!

I have a feeling Seabourn in Miami would have been more generous than Seabourn in Seattle.

I have a feeling Seabourn in Miami would have been more generous than Seabourn in Seattle.

Yes,you are correct after new Seabourns first offer of compensation.

Old Seabourn was a different proposition.

Markham, you are right that non-refundable air and related issues can be significant. Seabourn provided a partial reimbursement of non-refundable air for "bumping" us and they are now reviewing the residual non-refundable expenses. Lots of paperwork and bureaucracy (time). This is where a top notch travel agent can provide real value.

On our February Spirit Caribbean cruise, we had 2 affinity groups- car dealers(reward cruise) and divorce lawyers. The lawyer group had a couple of business meetings(?write off the cruise), and they took over Restaurant 2 for a whole evening. The groups mainly socialized amongst themselves and comprised about 1/3 of the passengers all together. I feel the presence of affinity groups (especially larger ones)on a cruise could definitely negatively impact the cruise for the rest of the passengers. Is there a way to find out from SB if there will be an "affinity group" on my cruise- especially before final payment? I did ask my TA to check before my Spirit cruise, because I have read on CC about that practice- but she did not get any information from SB.

Kathy

We were on the "car dealer/lawyer" cruise with you in February and agree that it was a huge disappointment. The lawyers generally kept to themselves, as noted, but the other group ran the staff ragged and seemed to have little sense of courtesy for fellow travellers (who actually paid good money to travel on Seabourn!). Thanks for raising this issue and soliciting feedback from other readers - I'm going to call Seabourn before our next cruise in December, so we don't repeat this mistake!

Wow, this is new to me, but so also is cruise ship travel. We've only been on one cruise, Seabourn Legend in the Caribbean, and are planning our second cruise aboard the Sojourn for a Baltic cruise in June 2013. Are there more popular "affinity group" routes than others? I must admit, I will be VERY irritated if there is a large group on our upcoming cruise. It's a pricy cruise and we're using lots of airfare miles to get there.

I think the 7 day Caribbean cruises are more likely to be "chartered" by affinity groups. I had heard that cruise we were on was not "full", and that SB gave a really good price to the affinity groups and this resulted in a primarily negative experience for me and some others also on that cruise.

In contrast, on our 17 day Norway and Baltic cruise in July 2012, there were a few "groups", but not enough of them to impact the cruise experience. Most likely because the Baltic and Norway is an expensive itinerary.

Kathy

Thank you, Kathy16. I was thinking that Caribbean itineraries would be more popular for "groups". Thank you for confirming. However, I really think it degrades the Seabourn name and it's reputation to allow these "affinity groups" on board as obviously they negatively affect the experience of their loyal, paying patrons.

I was formerly in the business of booking group and incentive travel, then it was primarily full ship charters, but the business has changed. I think it would be very unlikely that a professional group would book a cruise longer than 7 days so many of the Caribbean cruises "fit the bill". The only type of group booking that is longer than 7 days would be a "buy-in" group such as an alumni group or bridge group or similar and that type of group is usually so diverse as to be hardly noticible.

The problem with integrating these professional "affinity groups"with the general population is that the participants are often so (too) similar. They win these trips because they are aggressive, outgoing, don't take no for an answer, take charge, type A people. In their dealerships (or whatever) they are stars. Enmass, onboard ship, they are often obnoxious.

I was formerly in the business of booking group and incentive travel, then it was primarily full ship charters, but the business has changed. I think it would be very unlikely that a professional group would book a cruise longer than 7 days so many of the Caribbean cruises "fit the bill". The only type of group booking that is longer than 7 days would be a "buy-in" group such as an alumni group or bridge group or similar and that type of group is usually so diverse as to be hardly noticible.

 

The problem with integrating these professional "affinity groups"with the general population is that the participants are often so (too) similar. They win these trips because they are aggressive, outgoing, don't take no for an answer, take charge, type A people. In their dealerships (or whatever) they are stars. Enmass, onboard ship, they are often obnoxious.

Don't forget that many of us regular 'Seabourites' are able to fund our life style after successful careers which involved being aggressive, outgoing, don't take no for an answer, take charge, type A people. :eek::eek:

Just because we appear to be mature, well traveled, culturally sophisticated and laid back does not mean that we cannot hold our own :D:D:D:D

So who wants to be on a cruise where individual self made "type A"s battle it out with incentive winning "type A"s?

Well I must say that something happens to many hard charging type A people on Seabourn -- they seem to mellow out. On our first Seabourn cruise my husband( one of "those" people) realized that the Captain, not he, was in charge, so he might as well kick back, relinquish "control" and enjoy himself -- which he promptly did and has done on every subsequent cruise.